Project Management, A Short History

There have been several key players in the development of project tools. One of the most notable, Henry Gantt developed "The Gantt chart" which is still accepted as one of the most important management tools even today. This chart provides a visual diagram that guides and controls tasks, as well as records progress towards stages of a project.

Gantt's ideas went on to be more heavily developed into the "Critical Path Method" (CPM) which provides managers and teams a diagram of their projects, and ranks which tasks are most essential to a smooth functioning project.

Real management understands that work happens in the real world, and things
don't always go as planned. Some elements of any project fall behind schedule,
mistakes happen, good P.M. helps teams keep the most important elements of any
project in the forefront of their minds.

The benefit of the developments in online project software is
using the right application, you can track where you are or aren't on schedule
on any given project. Using that same software you can communicate,
collaboration, and share seamlessly with key members on your team, without
missing a beat.

Effective Tools For Your Team

Depending upon your team's needs, the tools you use differ dependiing on the project, how many people working on it, and whether or not your
clients are intimately involved in the project's development.

PM, like team building is based upon two main elements:

1. communication2. collaboration

Of course each of these elements break down into their own sub-lists of
priorities, but everyone who's worked on a team project understands. . .
simplicity, function, and ease of use far outweigh the archaic Gantt chart and
traditional "management" torture devices.

The Internet is Revolutionizing Management

Other charts such as "Program Evaluation and Review Technique" (PERT),
also have their place in projects, most companies and teams need these approachable,
intuitive, and fluid project tools.

The Internet simplified and made managing projects more "manageable" for
those folks who cringe at the thought of acronyms and MBA exams.